All My fish ArE DEAD!?

Question

I have just reciently bought a 10gal fish tank. I declorinized the water and waited a good ammount of time. (about 4-5 hrs) before i put the fish in. All fish seemed fine, after 2 weeks I put in 2 big sucker fish. with the one small one that was already in there. I feed them 2 times a day. My place is hard to heat. I set the heater to about 78 degres. It only gets to about 70-74. I had 3 sharks in there too. (about 3 inches long each) and one big fish. Now we had a power out so I put blankets over the tank and kept it warm. I left for the night. Came back mid day and the 3 sucker fish were dead. And the two sharks. One of the sharks died about one week ago. i don't understand what the heak is going on. I change the filter & everything. My cats like to drink out of the fish water. I try to keep them off the tank. I have seen cat hair in the water. (just a bit, not alot at all) and hair around the filter. What is killing my fish? the last fish i have is about 70$. I want to save him!

Answer 1

You didn't cycle your tank. The temperature swings are hard on your fish, but what's probably killing them is poor water quality. You have too many fish in your tank and all of the ones you named are too big -- WAY too big -- for a 10 gallon tank. Suckerfish especially produce a lot of waste, which turns into a lot of ammonia, which is going to be rampant already in an uncycled tank, and basically, you just created a toxin bath for your poor fish.

The best way to give your remaining fish a fighting chance is to change 50% of their water immediately. Be sure that, in addition to dechlorinating it, you let the new water sit until it's room temperature before putting it in the tank. Buy test kits for ammonia and nitrites and start testing the water daily. Any time you have ANY level of either chemical, you need to do a 25% water change. Right now, the levels are probably really high, and you'll need to do large (no more than 50%) changes until they're under control.

Also, you need to return that heater and get a new one! It's obviously not working and you deserve to have a working heater if you paid for one.

Your cat won't be able to keep drinking the water, which is dirtying it as well, if you put a proper lid on the tank. Another reason to do so is that you are losing water to evaporation more quickly than you should without a cover and you don't want to concentrate the toxins in the water even more.

Please use a search engine to figure out the needs of your $70 fish -- you shouldn't spend that much money on a fish if you don't know how to keep it alive!

Answer 2

Well first of all you didn't cycle your tank properly. Second you have way too many fish in the tank. Third you don't have it warm enough so fish are more likely to get sick. When the power went out and you covered it with blankets you most likely ended up suffocating the fish. I am not sure what fish you have in a 10 gallon tank that costs $70 but it seems like you have an awful lot of issues stacked against you. You need a cover for your tank, keep the cats out. If your spending $70 on a single fish you should try spending more on your equipment so you can actually keep them alive. A good book about fishkeeping might also be in order.

Answer 3

First of all your tank will need a heater for itself. That should be set to about 76-78*. Secondly, it sounds like you bought a tank and, if I read this correctly, 4-5 hours later you put in all these fish. You need to run the tank for a while, almost a month or two before adding fish in. You also need to go to your pet store and see if they have any bacteria to put into the tank - there is good bacteria and bad bacteria, but this is the good kind so the water has a good PH for the fish.

I had my tank for about a month before I put fish in. Instead of getting bacteria, I took a friends old filter and set it in the tank so the filter/water could take in the good bacteria from that. Even after waiting a month, I had a lot of fish die within those first few months until the tank settled and cycled the bacteria it needed. I have a few plants in to help eat bad bacterias and add stuff to the water that the fish need (I don't really know the sciences of it, but it works!).

Right now I have ottos, skunk loaches, long finned danios, and a rainbow shark. The temp is set between 76 and 78*. I don't really have any advice to help you save your fish, but I hope this helps in the setting up for your tank. You can't just set one up and put fish in, it is a longer process.

Good Luck, I hope you can save him!

Answer 4

First of all you overloaded the tank with fish! For a 10 gallon aquarium you had about ten times too many fish.

Secondly, you overloaded the biosystem. It takes a month with 1 fish to cycle an aquarium. The biosystem is very delicate to establish and for the first few months very unforgiving.

Lastly, you have no reason to put blankets over the tank as it traps the CO2 in the tank.

Suggestions I would have is accept your losses as a valuable lesson, go to the petstore or a reputable web site and read on setting up an aquarium. it is a common mistakes but still difficult nontheless.

Answer 5

The water must have gotten too cold for them.
That is a big investment of money. Maybe get a power cell that can run despite a power out.
Having a blanket over the tank was not good enough to keep the water from getting too cold.
That must have been some power failure to be completely gone over two days. SUrely you had some heating for yourselves?
Maybe position the tank closer to the wood burning stove for heat.

Answer 6

A Short Brief on the Nitrogen Cycle.


When you start a new aquarium it will go through what is called the nitrogen cycle.

The nitrogen cycle is a process which allows "good" bacteria to establish and multiple in the tank, thus breaking down the fish wastes.

Fish excrete ammonia as a waste product. Ammonia is highly toxic to fish and even small quantities in the water can kill your fish. The first bacteria that establish as part of the nitrogen cycle break down ammonia into a product called nitrites.

Nitrites are also toxic to your fish, but not nearly as toxic as ammonia is. As the nitrites start to rise in the tank the bacteria that feed on nitrites will start to multiply and consume the nitrites breaking them down into nitrates.

Nitrates are also toxic to fish, but only in very high quantities. The nitrates will continue to rise in your tank as long as you have fish and are feeding them. Water changes are used to reduce the nitrate levels.


How long does this process take?

Typically the nitrogen cycle takes between 4-6 weeks to complete. During this time it's recommended that you take samples of your tank water to the local fish store and ask them to test it for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. The test levels will progress as follows:


Stage 1:

Ammonia zero
Nitrites zero
Nitrates zero

Stage 2:

Ammonia starts to rise
Nitrites zero
Nitrates zero

Stage 3:
Ammonia continues to rise
Nitrites begin to rise
Nitrites zero

Stage 4:
Ammonia levels drop
Nitrites continue to rise
Nitrates begin to rise

Stage 5:
Ammonia: zero
Nitrites levels drop
Nitrates continue to rise

Stage 6:
Ammonia: Zero
Nitrites: Zero
Nitrates continue slow rise



Tips to reduce the time of the nitrogen cycle.

The easiest way to reduce or eliminate the nitrogen cycle is to use a filter from an established tank. This filter already has the bacteria needed to breakdown ammonia and nitrites. By using an established filter you essentially bypass the nitrogen cycle.

Another easy way to shorten the cycle is to use "seed" gravel from an established tank. Simply take a few cups of gravel from an established tank and add it directly into the new tank. This gravel will contain a starter of the bacteria needed. If you don't want to add the gravel to the tank because it is a different color/stone than your gravel you can simply put it into a nylon stocking or cheese cloth "bag" and drop it into the tank. Using this method can cut your cycle time by 50%.

Finally there are live cultures of bacteria such as Bio-Spira (available at http://www.fishstoretn.com ) which will seed your tank with the bacteria needed. This product can virtually eliminate the cycling process.



Stocking your tank during this period.

During the cycling process you want to stock your tank very lightly. This is because if you have too many fish the ammonia will build up faster than the bacteria can break it down and your fish will die. I recommend only 1 or 2 hardy fish such as mollies. You want a fish that can tolerate the fluctuating ammonia and nitrite levels during the cycling process. There are many fish which should be avoided during this process including all catfish and any scaleless fish such as loaches.



Feeding during the cycling process.

I recommend that you feed your fish only once per day, and only as much as they will eat in 5-10 seconds. You should net out any food left over after feeding to prevent it from breaking down into ammonia. Once the cycling process completes you can double the feedings to twice a day.



Water changes during the cycling process.

If done correctly your tank shouldn't need any water changes during the cycling process. However should you find that your ammonia or nitrite levels are dangerously high during the cycling process you should do an immediate 25-50% water change to lower those levels. Water changes during the cycling process can extend the time it takes for your tank to cycle. Once the tank has completed cycling you should start your weekly 10-25% water changes to lower the nitrates in the tank.

Answer 7

It doesn't matter how warm the room temp is... you need to get a water heater. You need to look into chemicals that will reduce stress chlorine ...and most important the the Ph in the water. Go to your pet store and talk to the fish people there. they should have a better idea of whats going on. My cat drink out of the fish tank... they should be fine.

Answer 8

What the hell is faulty with you? Its a fish not a *ucking buzzing chook. If he's not ineffective return him to anyplace the hell to procure him as your are patently too stupid to very own something then plastic fish and you could in all danger decide the thank you to kill those too.

Answer 9

you didn't say how long you let the water season before you put the fish in, I would recommend that you wait at least a week, if not 2 before introducing any fish, anyway it sounds like either the water became too cold or the cats are stressing the fish

Answer 10

limit to 1-2 fishes before rasing 5-6